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September 3, 2010

Especially useful stitches to know

For this beautifully stitched portrait of a Bearded Lady (pattern by Badbird), Angie used a wonderful selection of stitches. I spotted a back stitch, stem stitch, french knot, satin stitch, seed stitch, a chain stitch and a fly stitch. I consider these stitches, with addition of the split stitch, as especially useful to know and a great starting point for any stitchy repertoire. What stitch do you think is essential to know?

I just love the palestrina stitch because it gives volume to the embroidery. I also use the stem stitch a lot to fill spaces. Would you like a video on how to make palestrina? Go to my flickr (www.flickr.com/bordadosdaana). There are some useful videos there...

What really appealed to me about embroidery when I was first learning (still does, actually) is that I could back stitch the entire thing if I wanted, and it would still look "done"! Unlike knitting or crocheting, where it always seemed there was something I hadn't mastered keeping me from accomplishing projects, hand embroidery could be as simple as little stitches like the ones I made sewing, just in bright colors.